Refrigerating apparatus



May l12,- 1936. c. J. sEKYRA 2,040,634

' REFRIGERATING APPARATUS 'y Filed sept. 1o`, 1954 2 sheets-sheet 1 J? ff a ATTRNEY.

May 1 2, 1936.

c. J. sEKYRA REFR'IGERATING APPARATUS Filed Sept. l0, 1954 2 SheetsA-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY.

Patented May l2, i936 l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,040,634 REFBIGERATING APPARATUS Charles Joseph Sekyra, Troy, Ohio, assignor of one-half `to Kelvlnator Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application September 10, 1934, Serial No. 743,336 8 Claims. (Cl. 62-89) My invention pertains to refrigerator cabinets storage compartment encloses afreezing chamber and more particularly to an improved arrangeprovided with freezing trays I5 for freezing ice ment of shelves for storing small articles and a cubes, frozen desserts and the like. 'I'he cold storshield associated therewith. age compartment I6 which surrounds the cooling 5v It is an object of my invention to provide a unit is provided with suitable shelves |I for sup-v 5 refrigerator cabinet with a cold storage comporting food articles or other material to be partment Shield in conjunction with slidable stored therein. shelves whereby either ice cubes or small articles In ordinary use the large door I2 which closes may be conveniently removed without adversely the front of the refrigerator cabinet will be open l affecting the' thermal eiciency of the cabinet frequently for the purpose of removing ice cubes, l0 by releasing the cold air from the storage comfrozen desserts and the like from the freezing pertinent and admitting warm air therein. trays I and the cabinet Will often remain wide It is a further object of my invention to proopen for an appreciable time sufficient to release vide a Shield in a refrigerator cabinet to protect the cold air and admit Warm air. In order to 16 the cold Storage compartment from the entrance retain the cold air' in the food storage compartl5 o1' warm air while ice cubes are being `removed ment I 6, Ihave provided a shield 2| inside of the and which is conveniently removable to afford accabinet door I2 which seals the open area around 'cess to the storage compartment. the freezing chamber.

It is also an object of my invention to provide The cold sealing shield 2| comprises a flat clo- 20 an improved arrangement of drawer shelf comsure member of suitable material and is provided 2 partments for the storage of small food articles with an aperture 22 directly in front of the in a refrigerator cabinet. freezing trays I5 to permit their convenient re- 'Ihe invention itself, however. both as to its moval therethrough. The shield 2| is mounted construction and its utilization together with adupon hinges 23 provided along one edge whereby 25 ditioiial objects and advantages thereof, will best it may be quickly turned away from the refriger- 2 be understood from the following description of ator cabinet to afford convenient access to the specic embodiments, when read in conjunction large storage, compartment when desired. A Suitwlth the accompanying drawings, in which: able handle may be provided on the outer surface Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating a reof the pivotally mounted shield 2| to facilitate its frigerator provided withmy cold storage comremoval from the opening. 30 partment shield andan improved drawer shelf The cold storage compartment shield 2I `may construction showing the door of the cabinet and extend entirely across the front open area of the the shield in open positions; o cabinet, if desired, but in the preferred embodi- Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the ment ofv my invention the shield terminates at refrigerator on line II-II with the door and an intermediate point adjacent a vertical drawer 35 shield in their respective closed positions: plate 26 which comprises a sliding drawer coop-v Figure 3 is a vertical Sectional view taken on erating with the shield 2| vto completely close line III-III; the front opening of the cabinet. Secured to Figures 4 and 5 are fragmentary sectional the back of the plate in any suitable manner are views taken on lines IV-IV and V-V, respecnumerous shelves 21 which provide small com- 40 tively; partments extending into the food storage com- Flgure 6 is a view in elevation o1' a modif-led pertinent, as shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5, for the form o'f a refrigerator embodying features of my storage of small food articles therein. invention; and A framework is provided to rigidly support 4 Figures 7, 8 and 9 are views in cross section, the shelves at the rear of the drawer plate which 45 r-taken along the lines VII-VII, VIII-VIII and comprisestwo horizontally disposed pairs of an- IX--IX, respectively, of ,Figure 6. gle irons 28 which project rearwardly from the Referring more particularly to the drawings. I corners of the drawer plate 26 and which are have selected as a specic embodiment to lllusjoined to a pair of vertically disposed angle irons trate the application of my invention, a Small 29 adjacent the rear wall of the cabinet. Cross 50 household refrigerator comprising a heat insupieces 3| of angle iron rigidly unite the vertical lating cabinet II closed by a heat insulating door members 29 and suitable corner pieces or brack- I2 whichmay be hinged at one side and latched ets 3'. project from the vertical angle iron for at the other in a well known manner. A cooling supporting the rearwardly extended ends of the unit I4 supported in the upper portion of the food Shelves 2l. 65.

- turned U loop 35 The shelves are preferably of open wire constructi' comprising four wires disposed in a horizon ally extending plane to define the bottom of each vdrawer compartment, as clearly shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5. The two outermost wires 34 may be united at their ends in closed U- shaped loops 35 to provide a rigid structure and to facilitate attachment to thedrawenplate 28 to which the front U-shaped loop is secured in any suitable manner as by welding, soldering or other fastening means. support the U-shaped loops are preferably upturned. The front ends of the innermost pair of wires 38 on the bottom of the drawer are preferably joined in a U-shapedloop 38 and similarly secured to the vertical drawer plate 26. The rear ends of the inner wires 38 are preferably turned up independently and secured to the upof the outer pair ofwires. Above each of the outermost pair 34 of the four wlres a horizontally disposed wire 4| extends in parallel spaced relation to define the upper edges of the drawer compartment. The ends of this pair of wiresv4| may be secured to the upturned U loop 35 of the lower wires 34 in any suitable v manner.

brackets 32 on Cross wires 44 are provided at suitable intermediate points to rigidly unite the long horizontal wires. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the cross wires may extend around the outside of the horizontal wires to which they may be conveniently secured in any suitable manner such as spot welding, for example. 'I'he rear ends of the shelves 21 may be secured to the .corner the vertical angle irons 28 or they may rest freely thereon. The open conis provided on drawn forward to remove ,rear rollers 54 and tion the rear of struction ofthe .shelves 21 permits the cold air to 4press freely therethrough while supporting small food articles such as eggs, butter, cheese and the like. f

'I'he rcomplete drawer shelf assembly is supported inthe cabinet on rollers and a handle 48 y the front of the drawer plate 26 whereby the entire assembly may be conveniently the articles stored in the drawer compartments. 'I'he two front rollers 41 and 48 are journalled in brackets 48 and 58 which are rigidly secured to the respective up# per and lower walls of the cabinet. The two .rear rollers 54 and 55 are iournalled in brackets 58 and 51 rigidly secured to the rear ends of the respective upper and lower anglekirons 28 of the shelf assembly.

- As the shelf assembly is drawn forward the 55 carried thereby approach the front rollers 41 and 48 supported on the cabinet and thus the rollers serve a dual function of limiting the movement of the shelves and reducing friction. In its extreme extended posithe shelf assembly, which may be closed by a sheet of suitable material, approaches the edge of the closed shield 2| thereby limiting and restricting the flow of cold air from the large food storage compartment while small articles are being removed.

When the slidable shelf assembly is replaced it cooperates with the closed shield 2| to seal the front of the cabinet while permitting the convenient removal of ice cubes and frozen substances from the freezing chamber.

It will be seen that I have provided a refrigerator cabinet with a cold storage compartment shield and a slidable shelf assembly relatively so arranged that either small food articles or frozen substances maybe removed from the storage To provide an improved- .heat insulated walls 18 within the cabinet 18 for compartment or the freezing chamber, respectively, without releasing the cold air and `admitting warm air, thus greatly improving the average eiiiciency of refrigerators and rendering effective the improved heat insulating qualities of modern refrigerator cabinets.

Referring now to Figs. 6 to 9, inclusive, there is shown a modied form of a refrigerator embodying features of my invention. In these figures there is disclosed a refrigerator cabinet 18 having enclosed within an exterior metal casing 15 and provided with an inner metallic liner 16. The inner liner serves to form the interior walls of a food storage compartment 18 and is provided preferably with a coat of vitreous enamel, such, for example, as porcelain. Within the compartment 18 there is disposed a refrigerant evaporating or cooling element 88 which is provided with a freezing chamber 82 in which there is disposed a plurality of ice trays 83. Also, within the food storage compartment is placed a plurality of shelves 84. The food storage compartment 18 is provided with a door opening closed by a door 81. At the rear of the door 81 there is pivotally mounted a substantially at, rectangular shaped shield 88. This shield is spaced from the door 81 in order to provide a second food storage compartment 82. As shown in the drawings, the shield 88 is provided with a cutaway portion 84 for gaining access to the freezing chamber 82 without'movement of the shield 98. When it is desired to gain access to the food storage compartment 18, the shield 88 is swung outwardly on 81. Preferably, the mountings 81 are received in socket members 88 on one end and rigidly attached to the shield 88 on their opposite ends by means of screws |88.l

Preferably, the auxiliary food storage compartment 82 is provided for the purpose of storing removably mounted to the shield 88 at the side of and below the freezing chamber 82. Preferably, these wire shelves are made of two pieces including members |84 and |85. The member |84 is bent to provide a bottom supporting portion of shelf and the member |85 is bent to provide a front ledge for. the shelf and supporting legs having bent portions |88 which extend through holes |81 in the shield 88. By this arrangement it` is possible to readily remove the shelves if it is so desired. Preferably, the marginal edges of door 88 are spaced slightly W4" or more) from the marginal edges of the door opening to permit' the free circulation of cooled air in compartment 82.

In Fig. 8 it will be noted that the door 81 is disposed entirely on the exterior of the food storage compartment 18. This gives maximum space the provision of food storage compartments 18 and 82. The door is preferably of Vrectangular formation and has a bevelled edge I I8 on the hinged side thereof. In order to effectively seal the food storage compartment opening 85. I have provided a gasket sealing member H2 which extends entirely around the door and abuts against the front wail of the cabinet. As shown, this gasket sealing member has two sealing gasket'portions |I4 and Ill. If desired, the gasket sealing member |I2 may be made in two pieces instead of one to provide the A two sealing surfaces I|4 and 5.

its pivotal mountings which are access may be had to the freezing chamber of the evaporating unit without permitting the escape of cool air from the main food storage compartment or permitting warm air to enter said compartment. It will also be noted that if only small food articles are to be removed from the cabinet the same may be removed therefrom without losing the cool air of the main food storage compartment. In addition, it will be noted that access may be readily had to the ice making chamber, the main food storage compartment or the auxiliary food storage compartment.

While it is necessary for the purposes of illustration to describe the disclosed form of my invention in detail, it will be apparent that my invention is not so limited and that other forms and applications thereof are embraced within the scope of the appended claims. I

I claim as my invention:

l. The combination with a refrigerator comprising a heat insulating cabinet open at one side, a heat insulating door for closing the open side of said cabinet. a cooling unit mountedin the storage compartment enclosed by said cabinet to cool said compartment and a freezing chamber associated therewith adjacent said door, of a removable shield disposed in the open side of said cabinet adjacent said door to close the open area around said freezing chamber whereby the cold air is retained in the storage compartment when the door is opened to enter the freezing chamber.

2. In a refrigerator the combination of a heat insulating cabinet having an open portion, a heat insulating door closing said open portion, a cooling unit comprising means for dividing the space within said cabinet into a freezing chamber surrounded by a cold storage compartment, and a pivotally mounted shield disposed within said open portion to close the open area around said freezing chamber, whereby cold air is retained in the cold storage compartment when the door is open to enter the freezing chamber.

3. In combination in a refrigerator a heat insulated cabinet open at one side, a heat insulated door for closing the open side of said cabinet, a cooling unit mounted in the storage compartment enclosed by said cabinet for cooling said compartment, a freezing chamber associated therewith, and shielding means cooperatively disposed in the open side of said cabinet to retain the cold air within the compartment while small food articles or frozen substances are being removed from the storage compartment or the freezing chamber respectively.

4. In combination in a refrigerator a heat insulated cabinet open at one side, a heat insulated door for closing the open side of said cabinet, a cooling unit mounted in the storage compartment enclosed by said cabinet for cooling said compartment, a freezing chamber associated respectively.

5. In combination in a refrigerator a heat insulated cabinet open at one side, a heat insulated door for closing the open side of said cabinet, a cooling unit mounted in the storage compartment enclosed by said cabinet for cooling said compartment, a slidable shelf assembly comprising cold air sealing means disposed inside of said door for closing the open side of said cabinet to retain the cold air within the compartment while the door is open and articles are being removed.

6. In combination in a refrigerator a heat insulated cabinet open at one side, a heat insulated door for closing the open side of said cabinet, a cooling unit mounted in the storage compartment enclosed by said cabinet for cooling said com- A partment, a shelf assembly comprising shelves of open construction to permit the cold air to pass articles in said storage compartment, means for movably supporting the shelf assembly in said freely therethrough while supporting small food enclosed by said cabinetfor cooling said compartment, a freezing chamber associated therewith, a shield having an aperture therein, means for movably supporting said shieldin the open side of said cabinet with the aperture disposed before said freezing chamber, and a slidable shelf assembly, said shield and shelf assembly being suitably proportioned and disposed in the open side of said cabinet to cooperatively retain the cold air when food articles or frozen substances are being removed from the storage compartment or the freezing chamber respectively.

8. Refrigerating apparatus comprising, in combination, a cabinet having a food compartment and a door opening, a door for closing said opening, a refrigerant evaporating element within said s cabinet for cooling said compartment, a pivotally mounted shield in the rear of said door and spaced therefrom to provide a space therebetween, said shield being provided with a cutaway portion for gaining access to said evaporating element, and being arranged to be swung outwardly for gaining access to said food compartment, and a plurality of shelves mounted on the outside of said shield and at the side of and below said cutaway por- DISCLAIMER 2,040,634.0hrles Joseph Sekyra, Troy, Ohio. REFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

Patent dated May 12, 1936. .Disclaimer filed March 14, 1938, by the patenbee and the assignee, Kelvinator Corporation. Hereby enter this disclaimer to claims 1, 2, and 8 in the specification of said Letters Patent.' i

[O cz'al Gazette April 12, 1938.] 

